Shattering the Sanctuary Barriers

Boom! The explosion ripped through the air, and the wolf remnants burst like fireworks with sharp cracks.

They'd swarmed in such dense packs that it was outright slaughter—wolves and werewolves vanishing into the flames of gunpowder. Not that anyone could tell if there was actually gunpowder involved; it just went off with a frenzy of bangs anyway.

"Whoa! These wolves are like total trash!"

From the side, Shin Gaon was chattering excitedly.

"Hey, Shin. Quit yapping and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠haul those shells over here quick!"

"...Your tone is seriously pissing me off."

Shin Gaon grimaced as she lugged over the cannon shells. It was definitely some familiar speech pattern, but she couldn't quite pin it down enough to snap back properly.

"Isn't this number of them kinda inhuman?"

Thud!BOOM!

Even amid the chaos, the cannon shells' flames snapped up another wolf pack like a beast's jaws. No matter how many surged in, the fortress held firm.

But what gnawed at Yeonwoo wasn't the fortress. It was how the other sectors were handling this insane volume.

"No way the other areas can hold this off."

"Then the event ends."

"You shoot the cannon too."

Shin Gaon's nonchalant attitude grated even more for some reason. Yeonwoo pointed to another cannon hanging along the second-story wall.

There were cannons and ballistae plastered all over the walls from the start, stacked high with ammo. Even if they lacked punch, it didn't matter.

If the event wrapped up fast like Shin Gaon said, there was no need to hold back.

Rumble...

Then came a deep, resonant groan.

"What now?"

Shin Gaon sounded puzzled, but Yeonwoo instantly knew what it was. Changes like this—separate from the system window signaling an event wave—only meant one thing.

"Third wave."

Yeonwoo's guess hit the mark. Far off, a werewolf pack emerged. They moved in tight 2x2 formations, four per group, hoisting a massive pillar topped with a wolf's head between them.

"Battering ram?"

In English, door-breaching gear. In simple terms, a siege weapon designed to smash gates.

"No. The existence of a third wave here means..."

Yeonwoo glanced up at the blood-red moon. This Sanctuary event had triggered over ten times already. That meant the third wave scaled with it, barreling down in equal measure.

"Hold on."

Yeonwoo hurriedly scanned the other sectors. It was as grim as expected. Those who'd built with bricks were still hunkering down behind their house barriers. But the flimsy wood ones were on the verge of total wipeout.

Wolves flooded the sectors like a plague of dogs, filling every inch. Blocking the doors was one thing, but they smashed through windows or burned roofs to get in—no way to stop them all.

Houses crumbled under assault. Hunters, likewise surrounded by wolves, suffered the same agony.

"...The house."

Finally, Yeonwoo pinpointed the nagging dissonance she'd felt. In the Sanctuary, hunters only got ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠booted out on one condition: defeat.

"It doesn't end until the house is smashed."

"What? No event works like that."

"What kinda bullshit event is this?!"

Those holding out in shacks weren't grit incarnate. They were just writhing in endless torment, not knowing when it'd stop.

And that red moon bothered her too.

Why?

The biggest red flag was that crimson moon. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't fit the event vibe at all. Staring at it stirred visions of something red flickering in her mind.

The red altar. The red sky chained in iron. And now this red moon.

The eerie thread connecting them itched at her. The moon's hue was still faint compared to the others, but dragging this out felt like tempting real disaster.

"No. Vague hunches like that won't cut it."

Slap. Yeonwoo smacked her own cheek hard.

She'd gotten swept up in the frenzy, letting her thoughts go slack. A veteran hunter nailed down exactly why disaster loomed, planned countermeasures, and decided fight or flight.

All for survival. And to avoid overreaching.

What part bugs me so much?

She steadied herself and rescanned the sector.

Houses that wouldn't crumble easily. Hunters in agony. Endless wolf hordes pouring in.

The standout issue amid it all? The wolves.

Houses broke and ended it. Hunters' pain stung, but resolve came with the job.

But those wolves... They kept coming, sector end or not.

Even the shack sector that dropped out ages ago was overflowing. Over ten event starts meant easily 300-plus wolves crammed in.

With the second wave piling on, and now the third?

"Rampage... imminent?"

Gates past their limit rampaged. Babel's hidden gate had teetered on the edge, forcing them to rally hunters for the anomaly altar as a last resort.

And somehow, that spat out her.

Too many numbers.

No way to thin the wolves filling empty lots. The translucent walls divided sectors—no influence across.

Only option: end it before more piled up.

"The houses! The houses...!"

She tried yelling it out, but her pitiful voice wouldn't carry.

"Gahhh!"

"Ugh, fuck. Stop. Just stop already! Please!"

"Why... guk... won't... it end...?"

Grrrrrr!

Yip! Yek!

The chaos drowned any chance of her voice breaking through. Even if it did, how to make them smash their own houses first?

And seeing it firsthand, the surging wolves weren't the only problem.

Shacks were fine—they shattered quick due to crap durability.

Wood houses changed that. Would hunters' bodies hold until the houses broke? Would the event even protect their lives?

No guarantees.

"They're gonna actually die at this rate!"

Yeonwoo bolted for the cannon, wrenching its barrel with all her might.

Hunter sectors were huge triangles—like pizza slices. Waves hit from the rounded base. The pointy tip was just the divide's start.

Yeonwoo swung the cannon toward that tip and kicked the barrel hard.

BOOM!

The shell rocketed out... only to BOOM! against the translucent dividing wall in a futile blast.

No other change.

"What're you doing?"

Shin Gaon shot her a baffled look, as expected. Yeonwoo couldn't exactly explain the red moon or anomaly vibes.

"They're all gonna die like this."

"It's an event, come on."

"'Come on' is what kills people."

But Shin Gaon didn't get it.

"It's an event."

"Exactly—an event!"

Yeonwoo couldn't hold back her frustration, yelling it out. Because it was an event, no one could die.

"Why do you care so much?"

Shin Gaon didn't grasp Yeonwoo's urgency. She just shrugged and kept at her task.

...No helping it.

Yeonwoo got her attitude, really. Everything ran on system rails from the jump. Event flow, sector divides—all preset.

Doubting that was pointless. It was the unspoken hunter-system pact. Just accept it.

But Yeonwoo, having slipped the system's leash once, instinctively questioned and braced against its framework.

What happened once could happen twice. Veteran hunter mindset.

Are the sectors truly absolute?

The blood scent had crossed them earlier, ignoring walls. Now it vibrated blatantly.

That pattern felt so...

Artificial.

Like the whole mess was someone's prank.

If something this horrific had gone down before, future-her would've known.

Then maybe the reverse works too?

Even if someone meddled artificially, she could smash the preset system right back.

If not... then yeah, just an event system, like Shin Gaon said.

"Gimme."

"What?"

"Real Combat Compression."

"Weren't we saving it?"

"I said that, yeah."

Shin Gaon smirked and handed over Real Combat Compression No.4.

"You really gotta go that far?"

Her words hit different—what was Yeonwoo planning that needed No.4? But to Yeonwoo, it sounded like: It'll end on its own. Unavoidable anyway. Why bother for others?

"...It's what we do."

No grand justification. Tacking one on felt embarrassing, unnecessary. Just doing the job.

"If you don't get it, fight for me next time. Shin Gaon."

"Hmph. Fine. We're a team."

"And."

Yeonwoo snatched Real Combat Compression No.4 like it was hers.

"I'll collect payment. In weapons. Lots of 'em."

Yeonwoo hurled herself out the window. Agile steps along the wall, then a light drop to the sector's edge.

Yeonwoo fused Real Combat Compression No.4 into her weapon right away. Two new mid-tier options, plus a fresh special one in hand.

"So that's what it does."

The explosive power's source was Concentrated Barrage. Like its series mate No.2, it gathered force for release. No.2 slashed; this one blew up.

"Doesn't matter. Fuse 'em all anyway."

No standalone effect now in Yeonwoo's hands. No.2 and No.4's gathering powers merged into one.

Yeonwoo shifted to a two-handed axe form and charged the divide's center.

She gripped the two-handed axe tight, hoisting it overhead.

"Hoo."

A short breath, and her options kicked in: Severance, Destruction, Heaviness—all low-tier. As Gather Slash charged in the raised stance...

Fwoosh!

A cylinder popped from the blade's side, belching acrid smoke. Power flowed into the axe.

A form Yeonwoo felt for the first time. Beep. The new gauge beside the cylinder lit one bar.

"...Ah!"

Yeonwoo's gasp, then beep! Another bar filled.

Special option Concentrated Barrage gathered her power, even weaving in her Mana Lv.2 option.

So this is the feeling.

Yeonwoo's pretty lips parted in awe. A new sensation settled in her body.

She couldn't predict how much power this mana would grant. But the act itself marked the divide ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠between zero and one.

Never used mana as a hunter before—pure zero. Now, one.

Know the sensation or not—that was the gap.

Whether this one became 100 or 1000 ahead... The gateway to possibility cracked open.

All power loaded. Yeonwoo locked eyes on the translucent sector wall one last time.

I'll cleave it for sure.

Once a day. Ignoring nature, form, attribute, structure, trait, base, essence, phenomenon, framework, energy, core, and composition—to sever them all.

She poured that into the swing.

Took its sweet time charging!

Yeonwoo hurled the axe.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whir!

The massive axe spun wildly, rotation and acceleration piling on as it flew...

BOOM!

...and detonated.

"Whoa!"

The blast knocked even Yeonwoo flat on her back.

"Wh-what?!"

"Sudden from behind...?"

"Huh? Saintess?!"

Voices rang out. Theirs carried over now too.

"Got it."

The divide's core—the pizza slice's heart. The translucent wall shattered, punching a massive hole.

Blatant system exploit. All sectors linked at last.

Houses still standing. Hunters under siege. Even evacuated spots.

Grrrrr!

Yip! Yap!

A blue tide surged in an instant. Wolves from empty house ruins poured through the new passage.

"Fuckin' hell!"

The curse slipped from Yeonwoo's lips. But her tossed weapon wouldn't boomerang back.

It buried straight into the wolf flood.

"Unbelievable! Catch!"

Shin Gaon's voice boomed from the wall. Looking up, a huge shadow plummeted.

Thud!

The crash revealed a weapon: a massive ballista crudely ripped from the brick floor.

"Took some doing to yank that for ya, sis."

"This possible?"

"What? You said ownership grants rights."

"...Right. Yeah!"

Yeonwoo twisted the ballista toward the gaping hole, aiming at the wolves flooding through.